National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions
(NESARC)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/National Institutes
of Health/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Description:

The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC)
was designed to determine the magnitude of alcohol use disorders and their
associated disabilities in the general population and in subgroups of the
population and to examine changes over time in alcohol use disorders and
their associated disabilities. It is a longitudinal survey with its first
wave of interviews fielded in 2001-2002 and second wave in 2004-2005. The
NESARC is a representative sample of the non-institutionalized U.S. population
18 years of age and older.

The NESARC collects data on background, alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse
and dependence, alcohol treatment utilization, family history of alcoholism,
tobacco use and dependence, medicine use, drug abuse and dependence, drug
treatment utilization, family history of drug abuse, major depression, family
history of major depression, dysthymia, mania and hypomania, panic disorder
and agoraphobia, social phobia, specific phobia, anxiety disorder, personality
disorders, antisocial personality disorder, family history of antisocial
personality disorder, pathological gambling, medical conditions, and
victimization. Public use data are currently available for the first wave
of data collection.

The interviewer presents a flashcard with racial categories listed and
says, Please select 1 or more categories to describe your race.

The respondent chooses one or more from the following categories:

American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN)

Asian

Black or African American

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (NH/PI)

White

AI/AN/NA Population in Data Set:

In the first wave of data collection (2001-2002), there were 43,093
respondents. The unweighted frequencies for selected racial categories were
as follows:

AI/AN: 1,304
NH/PI: 363
Note that respondents could select more than one category.

For analytical purposes, the Census Bureau imputed race for individuals for
whom that information was missing. The Bureau also used an algorithm to code
a single race category for those individuals who identified themselves as
multi-racial. These computations and imputations resulted in a constructed
variable where the unweighted count of American Indians or Alaska Natives
(not Hispanic) was 701. Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders are combined
with Asians as one category of the constructed variable.

Geographic Scope:

The geographic scope of the survey is national. Geographic indicators
are available for Census region, Census division, central city vs. not central
city, and state. These geographic factors can be incorporated as variables
in analyses. However, valid analyses cannot be conducted within these geographic
areas because the NESARC was designed to be a representative sample of the
U.S.

Date or Frequency:

This is a longitudinal study. The first wave of data collection occurred
in 2001-2002 and the second wave occurred in 2004-2005.

Optional, with incentives. Participants who completed the survey were
given $80.

Response Rate:

The overall survey response rate for the NESARC was 81 percent.

Sampling Methodology:

The NESARC used a three-stage sampling design. The sampling frame for
the NESARC sample of housing units is the Census 2000/2001 Supplementary
Survey (C2SS), a national survey of 78,300 households per month. A group
quarters frame was also used. Stage 1 was primary sampling unit (PSU) selection
using the C2SS PSUs. Stage 2 was household selection from the sampled PSUs.
In Stage 3, one sample person was selected from each household.

Strengths:

Data are collected on key policy issues including alcohol and substance
use as well as health. When available, the longitudinal data will provide
significant opportunities for examining patterns of alcohol use and disability
by individuals.

Limitations:

Change in sample size for the AI/AN/NA population related to attrition
from the study across the two waves of data collection is unknown at this
time.

Other:

The second wave of data collected in 2004 and 2005 are expected to be
ready for use in the summer of 2007.